Dear Ron
by Ralinde
Summary: On their wedding day, Ron and Hermione receive a photo album with (embarrassing) childhood pictures and personal anecdotes about them from their relatives and friends.


_A/N: This is written for the Hogwarts Wintergames 2014, for the category Free Style Skiing - Moguls (__Competitors are able to choose a character of their choice to write about. There are no restrictions on what happens in this story, what your character does, or who they are paired with (if any).) The character I picked is Ron, because he's one of my favourite characters from the series and he doesn't get nearly as much fanfiction love as he deserves. _

* * *

Harry had already given a speech during dinner, so when he stood up again at the feast and motioned the band to stop playing, Ron raised his eyebrow.  
"What's he up to?" he whispered to Hermione.  
"I have no idea."  
Harry cleared his throat. "To those of you who were present at diner, you know I've already given a speech. But this time, I'll keep it short."  
People sniggered but Harry ignored them.  
"Ron, Hermione, you two are my best friends. We been through hell and back again together and I would not have wanted to do any part of it with anyone else. But I'm not the only person whom you mean a lot to. Marriage is all about knowing everything there is to know about each other, so I've asked all your friends and family to write down all those anecdotes and embarrassing childhood photo's you hoped no one would ever see." He grinned. "There were quite a few of them actually, so I fear it has become a rather heavy album." He produced an overly large photo album and handed it to Ron and Hermione. "Congratulations guys."  
"Thank you," Hermione said happily.  
"Thanks, I suppose," Ron said, not really knowing whether or not he ought to be pleased or not.

When the party was over, Ron nuzzled contentedly in Hermione's hair. "This day was just perfect."  
"It was just as I had pictured it."  
"You know, I know it's late, but I don't want this day to be over yet."  
Hermione sat up. "I know, we could check out the photo album Harry gave us." She summoned the heavy album and opened it. "We'll start with yours, is that okay? I'm ever so curious about your embarrassing childhood photographs," she teased.  
"I'm not so sure I'd like to share them..."  
"Come on, it'll be fun.  
Reluctantly, Ron agreed. Best get it over with straight away.  
Hermione opened the album and started reading the first letter in the album, which happened to be Harry's.

"_Dear Ron,  
As best man and initiator, I have the honour to write the first letter_," she read, "_There are so many things we have gone through together that I don't even know where to start. But maybe I ought to start at the very beginning.  
The first time I met you, you were the small, freckle-faced, red-haired boy I shared a compartment with aboard the Hogwarts Express. It was my first time on the train and I was terrified, because I knew virtually nothing about the wizarding world, apart from what little Hagrid had told me. _

_It was your first time on the train too, but you seemed rather comfortable, perhaps because you had already heard the stories from your brothers. For the first time since, well ever, I had enough money to buy a whole truckload of candy from the trolley and you were more than willing to help me eat it all. Somewhere between Dumbledore's Chocolate Frog Card and the Pumpkin Pastries we became best friends. _

_We've had our rows - sometimes you wouldn't speak to me for months because I was such I thickhead, remember? - but you always remained and always will be my closest friend._

_You told me how nervous you were for this day. There's no need. I faced Voldemort many times, and I could not have done it without your help. When I'm on an Auror mission, you're the one I hope to have next to me, not only because you're my friend, but because quite frankly, you're a better Auror than I am. __Voldemort is a whole of lot scarier than marriage is, so you have nothing to worry about. _

_Have faith in yourself, and in each other. _

_Remember your first Quidditch match as Keeper? You thought I slipped Felix Felicis in your pumpkin juice and you felt invincable. Gryffindor had never kept the number of countergoals as low as you did that day. Truth is, you never needed Felix, you were brilliant of your own account. You also won't need Felix in your marriage, there is no way love like yours can ever falter.  
I'm proud and honoured that you picked me as your best man, and I'm honoured that next month our roles will reversed.  
_

_I wish you guys all the luck and happiness, you deserve it.  
Harry_"

"Do you remember, we met for the first time in that same compartment as well. You were looking for Neville's toad," Ron said.  
"I remember," Hermione replied, "though I think I was a bit of a bossy know-it-all back then, wasn't I?"  
"Yeah, _just _a bit."  
"Oh shut up."

She pointed at the photo of an adolescent Harry and Ron. "Where's this photo taken by the way? It doesn't seem familiar."  
"Let's see... Oh I know, this was the first day of Auror training! Cool, I didn't even know he had this photo." Ron examined it a bit more closely. "It seems so long ago," he mused.

"It hasn't really been that long."

"I know," he admitted. "But considering everything that's happened since… Read one of yours now, I'm curious what Harry wrote you."

"Yours first," she smiled. "We'll get to mine in a bit, okay?"  
"Okay. Who wrote the next letter?"

"I think this one's from your Mum."  
He leaned in to get a closer look and immediately recognised his Mum's neat handwriting. "Yep, that's hers alright."

"_My dear Ronniekins_," Hermione read.  
"Oh Merlin, I wished she would stop saying that," Ron groaned, "I'm not ten anymore!"  
Hermione stifled a laugh and carried on reading.  
"_I'm ever so proud of you. My youngest son getting married... Of course we've seen it coming, your Dad and I, and we think you two make a fine match.  
It seems only yesterday that you were just a baby though. You were a rather big baby, compared to Fred and George and Percy, but you were still my little boy. I remember your first steps and your first words... You were an early talker, did you know that? Probably because of your brothers, they were constantly talking to you.  
I remember that time you wanted to make your Dad and me breakfast. You had managed to get a hold of one of my favourite cookbooks and had turned the entire kitchen upside down. The bread I had put on the counter to rise overnight had gone black and stale because you thought putting it into the oven for an hour on the highest temperature would be a good idea. There was flour and milk and jam _everywhere_ but you stood there looking so proud of yourself that I didn't have the heart to tell you off. So your Dad and I pretended it was the best breakfast we had ever had, even though we were sick for the day after.  
I can only hope that in the years that followed, I've taught you enough to make Hermione a better breakfast than you made us that day.  
Good luck to the both of you, may your marriage be as happy and loving and long-lasting as that of your Dad and I (and maybe some children in due time?).  
With love, Mum_"

"I was four," Ron protested when Hermione grinned at the picture of a little Ron all covered in flour. "They never told me they fell sick from it though."  
"She's your Mum, what'd you expect? She obviously appreciated the gesture and didn't want to ruin it for you."  
She turned the page. "Oh, this is your Dad's. You know, I think it's great that after all these years, they still appear to be as much in love as on the day they married."  
"In forty years or so, we'll be where they are now," Ron promised her and kissed her. "Kids and everything. Mum'll be ever so pleased. But read on, I'm curious what my Dad has to say."

"_Dear Ron,  
Congratulations on your marriage son, we're very proud of the both of you.  
I'm sure your Mum has already gone into detail about your first steps and such..."_  
They both laughed.  
"He knows her so well," Ron grinned.  
_"... so I'd figure I'd tackle a different subject. Do you recall your first driving lesson? _

_No, I'm not talking about that time you and Harry stole the Ford Anglia and flew it to Hogwarts - I never knew it could go that far by the way and I'm still a bit jealous that you actually flew it – but don't tell your Mum that, she was positively livid when she found out, as I'm sure you'll remember.  
No, I'm talking about that time you and Hermione started dating and you wanted to impress her parents by arriving in a Muggle car. For days we practised, before you finally felt confident enough to take her out in it. It was great to watch you take off and just go when you finally did.  
Your Mum was worried sick but I knew you'd be all right.  
Apparently you impressed not only her parents but her as well, because after that, things started to get more serious between you two. And look at you now, a married man!  
I hope that, just like your Mum and me, you are still happily married after forty years. I'd fill you in on the secret how to do so, but it's nicer to talk things over accompanied by a Firewhisky, so we'll do that some other time.  
I wish you a long marriage filled with love.  
Love, Dad_"

He had inserted a photograph of Ron behind the steering wheel in their new Ford Anglia, which looked remarkably like the old one, except that the new one was more greenish then blue.

"So that's why you were so evasive when it came to that date!" Hermione exclaimed.  
"Yeah..."  
She kissed him. "I think it's sweet that you'd do that, just for me."  
"Well, for you I'd go the extra mile, you know that."  
"I know," she said softly. "I'm sorry I got mad back then, I thought you were having second thoughts."  
"Me, having second thoughts about us? Never," he said decisively.  
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, their arms wrapped around each other.  
"What do you say, shall we call it a day?"  
"I kinda want to know what the rest of them have written," Ron confessed. "Shall we do a few more?" and when she nodded: "How about I read the next ones?"  
"Works for me," she smiled.  
He took the album from her and started reading.  
"_Dear Hermione,"_  
"Ron!"  
"Just kidding," he grinned. "I know we'd do mine first. Here, this one's from George."  
"How do you know?"  
"I'd recognise that scrawl everywhere."

He cleared his throat.  
"_Dear Ron,  
You're now officially a married Weasley. Feels good, doesn't it? It took you two long enough to figure it out though, but once you did there was no stopping you. Savour the love you have together, it's important. (Don't let Mum nag you about grandchildren - you know she will - they'll come in your own time, whenever you two are ready.)  
I think now might also be the perfect time to thank you properly for all you've done for me after Fred died - I know you know, but I never spoke the words, did I?  
When we were younger, you were often the subject of our jokes – remember the time we nearly made you take an Unbreakable vow? - but when he died, you were there for me. I lost a part of myself that day and I often thought about giving up and joining him. But you listened, you remembered, you helped out in the store, you cried along with me and laughed to get me out of my depression.  
Truth is, without you, I don't know if I could have pulled through.  
So, thank you. Thank you for keeping me grounded and giving me back the will to live. Thank you for stopping me when I tried to drink that potion (and thank you for never telling Mum and Dad about it). _

_Fred'll never be back, but I know I have another great brother and friend in you and that you'll always be there for me whenever the loss of Fred becomes unbearable.  
George_."

Ron had spoken the last lines with a strained voice and when he looked aside, he saw tears glistening in Hermione's eyes. He knew there were tears in his own eyes as well.  
"I still miss Fred," he whispered. "Not as much as George does of course, but on a day like today..."  
"I understand." She hugged him tight. "And I'd also understand it if you want to do the rest of them tomorrow."  
He shook his head. "No, not as this point. I'll only be sad for the remainder of the evening, and that's not how I want to close this day off. We'll do one more, all right?."  
"All right," she agreed. "Do you want me to take over reading again?"  
"No, I'm fine. Thanks."  
He took a deep breath and returned his attention to the album.  
"Hey, there's a p.s. to George's letter, listen.  
_P.s. Because I'm sorry for writing you a sob story - this is your wedding day after all, you're supposed to laugh, not cry! - and because Fred would never forgive me if I didn't: If you turn the page, you'll find a picture that always makes me laugh when I look at it."_  
With a bit of hesitation, Ron flipped the page. Upon looking at the photograph, Hermione burst out laughing.  
"That must be the most embarrassing picture of my entire time at Hogwarts," Ron groaned.  
"Au contraire, I think you and Minerva look smashing, dancing together, especially with that awkward face you're pulling!"  
After a moment, he started laughing as well. "I have no idea how they got this picture, maybe Colin took it, but would you just look at my face! I look like I'm about to die on the spot of embarrassment."  
"Ah, poor you."

After they had stopped laughing, Ron flipped another page, which showed a picture of Neville and Hannah and their baby Frank, who waved frantically at them.

"_Dear Ron_," was scribbled underneath it.  
"_First of all, congratulations on your marriage! You and Hermione have a great future ahead of you.  
Harry asked me to write down a memory or an anecdote about you. I immediately thought back on that time you and Seamus convinced me to go with you to the Leaky Cauldron for 'a drink' after work. Naturally, 'a drink' soon became several drinks and because I wasn't used to drinking alcohol, I soon passed out (I have a suspicion that that was the purpose, because my drinks were disappearing twice as fast as yours?).  
I can't recall much of the evening, but when I awoke the next day, I was lying on your sofa - with a splitting headache of course - and found that you had somehow managed to send my Gran an owl that I wasn't going to come home that night. She wasn't too pleased with me so she sent a Howler, which I'm sure all of your neighbours of the time will remember.  
I decided that maybe it was time I found an apartment of my own.  
Later that day, a note arrived from Hannah, because apparently in my fogged state of mind I had asked her out. Well, you know how that turned out so I suppose thank you's are in order to both you and Seamus.  
By the way, speaking of the Leaky Cauldron, did you know that old Tom is retiring? Hannah'll probably scold me for telling you already, but guess what: we're the new owners! She's so excited and it's really close to my work too. So next time you come to The Leaky Cauldron, the drinks are on the house. Perhaps we can bring out a toast to marriage and to our wonderful wives.  
Neville_"

"That's not really how it went," Ron protested at Hermione's look. "Yes, we took him out for a drink, but he wanted to ask Hannah out but was afraid she'd turn him down. So he drank a Firewhisky to pick up courage, and then another one and another one after that... Seamus and I told him to calm it down a bit but to no avail. However, he managed to ask Hannah out somehow - though it was rather embarrassing to say the least."  
"Well, I remember when you proposed there was a bit of alcohol involved as well, wasn't there?" Hermione teased.  
Ron grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well... But hey, Hannah and Neville are taking over The Leaking Cauldron, who'd have thought?"  
"Don't change subjects," she grinned.  
"Yes there was some alcohol involved," he admitted. "But you said yes, and that's what matters, doesn't it?"  
He thought back on the day he had proposed. He'd had it all planned out. Hermione was off on an assignment and wouldn't be back in her office for a couple of hours. He had decorated her entire office with rose petals and then he had to wait for her to return. It was the waiting that had put him to a drink to ease his nerves. He hadn't drank nearly half as much as Neville had when he had asked Hannah out, but nonetheless he was a bit foggy when eventually Hermione came back to her office and he fell down on one knee.  
"I think it was the best proposal ever," she reassured him. "Even though I still found rose petals in my office for weeks after."  
"And look at us now," he smiled. "Happily married and everything."  
He closed the album with a thud.  
Hermione looked a bit startled. "Are we not going to do the rest of them?"  
"They can wait," he replied. "You're my wife now, and I want to spend the rest of the night doing something other than leafing through a photo album, however amusing that might be."  
"Hmm, did you have anything particular in mind?" She raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"Whatever you have in mind works very well for me too," he grinned cheekily.  
Hermione let out a little shriek of surprise when he lifted her up in his arms.  
"I love you, Mrs Weasley," he smiled and showered her with kisses.  
"I love you too," she replied and let him carry her over the threshold of their bedroom towards their four-poster bed.


End file.
